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Secondary professions for a Ranger
Ranger Warrior The Ranger/Warrior combination fits together well: The ranger primary Expertise benefits energy-using warrior skills and ranger armor provides more energy regeneration and elemental protection. There are good skill synergies and several different effective builds exist. Expertise will lower the energy cost of some warrior attacks and skills and ranger's armor has +1 energy regeneration, which makes high-energy warrior builds more practical. Adrenaline-based warrior skills give the ranger a way to deal damage when energy is low, and benefit from the adrenaline buildup of Ferocious Strike. Bonetti's Defense adds a useful energy management skill. Rangers have a lower base armor value then warriors (70 vs. 80) and receive no bonus against physical damage, but they receive higher armor bonus against elemental damage (+30). One of the best profession combinations for runners, Ranger/Warriors can use Dodge, Storm Chaser, and "Charge!" at low energy costs, with healing from Healing Signet and Troll Unguent. They are also able to do the feared Droknar's run with the use of Balanced Stance. As Rangers work naturally at the middle and back row, using Tactics skills can augment teammates' abilities. If one does not wish to spend energy to do so, there are a few skills ("Fear Me!" and "Watch Yourself!") that use adrenaline rather than energy, although with the slower attack speed of a bow, particularly slower bows, you will not build up adrenaline as fast as a melee fighter, making Frenzy or Tiger's Fury something of a necessity. Example Builds: *R/W Bunny Thumper Ranger Elementalist Ranger/Elementalists can take advantage of the conjure spells to enhance their damage output. Oftentimes, the practicality of this method relies upon Barrage. As Barrage will remove any preparations before being used, using Ignite Arrows or Kindle Arrows doesn't help. However, since a spell like Conjure Flame or Conjure Frost counts as enchantments, the ireffect is not removed, and thus the damage is boosted. Enchantments also often last longer than preparations. Example Builds: *R/E Fire Barrage Ranger Ranger Mesmer A combination that combines two of the best interrupting professions. Ranger/Mesmers can easily shut down casters with interrupting bow attacks and Domination/Inspiration magic. This combination would work best with allies that can take advantage of the build's capabilities. Using Read the Wind or Favorable Winds and Distracting Shot/Savage Shot/and or Concussion Shot included with the Illusion Skills Migraine and Arcane Conundrum is popular. The Illusion skills lengthen casting times and coupled with the increased attack speed from the ranger skills they can make even the quickest skills of the opponent possible to be interrupted. Ranger/Mesmer is also a very common combination in PvP as it is used for the ranger spike (massive single shot damage - uses mesmer skill Drain Enchantment and possibly Hex Breaker) and trappers (Uses Mantra of Resolve to avoid trap interruptions). Example Builds: *R/Me Cripshot Ranger Ranger Monk This is a very flexible and useful combination. Some common uses include: * Often used in The Underworld as a trapper, mostly with high points in Expertise and Wilderness Survival. * This combination is also a frequent component on the PvP build EoE Bomb, where the player would equip Light of Dwayna, Edge of Extinction and 16 Beast Mastery. * Beastmasters also benefit from being a Monk secondary as this gives them the ability to provide extra protection as well as damage boosts for their pet. Skills to be noted are Judge's Insight and Strength of Honor. As enchantments and spells are not affected by Expertise, Ferocious Strike is a good choice for energy management as well as damage. Another interesting skill combination is Life Bond (on your pet) and Balthazar's Spirit (on yourself) with Symbiotic Bond. This will give you 2 energy every time your pet takes damage. The downside is that you will need adequate healing for yourself and have less space for damage skills. * The "Run and Rebirth" backup plan can be useful, if the party is looking like it won't survive the group of enemies. The ranger can activate a running skill (e.g. Escape) and get clear of the enemies (i.e. break aggro), then resurrect the party. * The Ranger/Monk combination is also one of the best runner builds, comparing the speed boosts of the ranger and the healing and protection skills of the monk. Ranger Necromancer A popular PvP build for this combination is the 'Touch Ranger'. Since most of the necromancer abilities that require contact with the opponent (such as Vile Touch, Vampiric Bite, Vampiric Touch, and Touch of Agony) are classified as Skills (and not Spells), their energy cost is reduced by the Expertise attribute allowing them to be spammed rapidly. Additionally, as they are skills and not attacks, they cannot be blocked, evaded, or caused to miss due to suffering from blindness, and are safe to use even if the character is hexed by spells such as Backfire or Empathy. This build is further strengthened by use of the rangers Expertise-linked defensive skills such as Escape, Throw Dirt, and Whirling Defense, allowing the player to remain in melee range without taking significant damage. They can also use Plague Touch to provide some protection from conditions. Ranger/Necromancers combine the ranged abilities of the ranger and the death spells of the necromancer. One combination of these two classes uses a high level of Beast Mastery and Death Magic to create a powerful minion army with a pet and multiple undead minions. This build would be significantly better as a Necromancer/Ranger, gaining benefit from higher energy regeneration and Soul Reaping, but some minion masters favour the higher armor and survivanility of the ranger. Other possibilities include using Price of Failure combined with Ranger defensive stances to produce a somewhat effective melee tank. Mark of Pain is also an effective Necromancer skill for the PvE part of the game, dealing damage in an AoE whenever a foe is struck with physical damage. Skirmisher rangers can use some Blood Magic skills for their otherwise wilderness survival influenced techniques. The Ranger/Necromancer can be an effective interupter, combining bow attacks such as Savage Shot with powerful hexes like Mark of Subversion. For continuous interruption using Spinal Shivers with the right bowstring is a more reliable but more energy-intensive alternative to Concussion Shot. Energy denial, which can be achieved with a combination of skills like Malaise, Wither, and Debilitating Shot, is another viable option for characters with an anti-caster focus. Blood Magic users often take Blood Ritual or Blood is Power to act as a battery for the team. Ranger Assassin Whereas a assassin would primarily focus on Critical Strikes to maintain their energy pool, a Ranger/Assassin would use Expertise to reduce the cost of the assassin attacks. Using them in tandem with a zealous weapon would also greatly help. Defensively, the armor differences between the ranger and assassin extend as far as their effects. Assassins tend to have armor well suited against conditions, lowering their duration, but ranger armor focuses against elemental protection. Both have a maximum armor level of 70. Rangers have several stances within their skill list, such as Lightning Reflexes or Tiger's Fury, which increase attack speed and/or evasion. Adding the similiar assassin skills would make them hard to hit even at close range. Numerous ranger skills, such as Throw Dirt and Apply Poison, bestow conditions, which are required to get the full effect out of many dagger attack skills. Alternatively, an archery-focused ranger can employ Shadow Arts skills, particularly reactive teleports such as Viper's Defense, to keep out of melee range of enemy warriors and assassins. Example Builds: *R/A Repeat Expertise Assassin Ranger Ritualist Oath Shot could be used to quickly recharge ritualist spirits as well as ranger ones. Note that PvE characters would need to go to Tyria to get Oath Shot. Ritualist spirits (Binding Rituals) are not considered spells, and as a result, Expertise reduces their energy cost substantially. However, Weapon Spells and Item Spells are spells. Ritualist weapons spells also go well with Barrage as they are not removed because they are not preparations. The combination Ranger/Ritualist also comes handy during trapping because of item spells like Mighty Was Vorizun and binding rituals like Shadowsong. Ranger Paragon= Ranger Dervish Ranger